A Blink In Time
by twobluebearies
Summary: When Kirk wants to show his orphaned nephew Peter around the Enterprise, shenanigans happen and they end up in a universe where Starfleet doesn't exist. Will they find a way to return home?
1. Intro

Betelgeuse II was a rather pleasant planet, Kirk had to agree. By using his charms, he had managed to get the Enterprise's crew a two-week shore-leave here. But Kirk wasn't here to adore the lush greenery or the blue sky or even the mountains in the distance, no, he had come here to visit his nephew Peter. After his brother and sister-in-law had died just two years prior, Kirk had not found the time to actually care about Peter. He was here to rectify this to at least some degree.

Kirk followed a path that led through some rather dense shrubbery. Its flowers smelled wonderfully. He stopped in front of a big modern house; its kind was typically found on Terran colony worlds. He could see a small play ground and a vegetable garden on either side of it. Kirk pushed the buzzer at the door. Soon, the door was opened. A middle-aged lady stood behind it, smiling at the man in the Starfleet uniform. "You must be Captain Kirk.", the lady stated. Kirk nodded. "I'm Nathalie Bennett. I run this institution. Please follow me."

Kirk was led inside and up the stairs. "Are you Peter's only living relative?", Miss Bennett asked. "No. He still has a maternal grandmother, last I checked. But the woman is almost ninety." "I see.", they had left the stairs and were now walking down a hallway. Miss Bennett stopped. "This is the library. Peter is in there.", she explained and opened the door. Kirk stepped inside. "I will leave you alone.", Miss Bennett told him.

Inside, there were three children, a girl and a boy that were younger than his nephew and Peter himself. All of them looked up. Peter shut the book he had been reading and put it back onto the shelf. "Uncle Jim!", Peter exclaimed, earning angry glances from the other children. "Let's go talk in my room.", he said and pulled Kirk after him.

They climbed another flight of stairs. From there, Peter led him to a small room. Kirk looked around it. It was simple but comfortable. A window opened to the garden. Peter sat down in in front of his desk in his chair, while Kirk sat on the bed. "Why are you here?", his nephew asked. "I wanted to see you.", Kirk told him. "You haven't visited once in two years, why now?", Peter retorted. "We were away on mission. I didn't have a chance to.", Kirk tried to explain, slightly taken aback by his nephew's harsh words. To his shock, Peter started to cry a little. Not really knowing what to do, he moved over and sheepishly laid an arm around him. "I miss them too.", he confessed.

Slowly, Peter regained his composure. "For how long are you going to be here?", he asked, still sniffling. "Two weeks. After that, we have a mission to Alpha Centauri.", Kirk replied. "Can I come with you?", Peter begged. Kirk smiled a little. "I'm afraid that's not possible. Space is no place for a child." "I'm almost fifteen.", Peter protested. Kirk nodded. "And in three years, you can enter the Academy if you want to. But not now." Peter crossed his arms. "Can I at least have a look around the ship? Last time, I didn't really have a chance to do so." Kirk nodded again. "Why not? When would you like to do so?", he wanted to know. "Right now?", Peter proposed, and Jim had the uncanny feeling that he was sitting across his brother and not his brother's son.

Miss Bennett had agreed to their little outing under the condition that Peter would be returned by dinner time. As it turned out, the children were all on school holiday, meaning Kirk had the whole day to spent with his nephew. They were now standing in the garden in front of the house. Kirk whipped out his communicator. "Kirk to Enterprise.", he called. "Enterprise here.", Scotty answered. The good soul of engineering had offered to man the transporter so that his people could enjoy their shore-leave. "Two to beam up.", the Captain ordered. "Aye, Sir.", the engineer answered. Kirk put the communicator away and a gold aura engulfed both of them.

Kirk could already see the Enterprise's transporter room, when all of a sudden, an extremely bright light shone into his face. It was dark for an undeterminable amount of time. Slowly, the world around them materialized again. "What happened?", Kirk asked as soon as he had completely materialized.

It took a few seconds for him until he realized that he was speaking to Scotty, but the ship around him was definitely not the Enterprise. In a split second he turned his head, to find his nephew next to him; unharmed, it seemed. "A minor malfunction. But I could fix it.", the strange Scotty answered him. "This isn't the Enterprise.", Peter commented while looking around. "No.", Kirk agreed. "Enterprise?", Scotty asked, looking rather flabbergasted. "What in the name are you talking about?"

The whole ship was kept in dark colors and seemingly rather old. They had materialized on a cargo platform. Scotty was wearing a dark-blue leather jacket and looking at Kirk's uniform in awe and confusion. "I think we have a problem.", Kirk told Peter.


	2. The Dandelion

After a short investigation, Kirk found that they were on a smallish transport ship, with only Scotty, Peter and himself as its crew. It was named the _Dandelion_, a really stupid name, he thought. While he walked through the ship's living compartment, Scotty was right behind him. He had left Peter in the transport bay. "How has the deal gone?", the engineer wanted to know. "What deal?", Kirk asked absentmindedly. "Don't tell me you were down there all night and you didn't pull the deal!"

Kirk turned to Scotty. "Look. There must have been some accident with the transporter. I am supposed to be on a Starfleet ship named _USS Enterprise_. Not wherever here is. I don't know anything about a deal." Scotty mustered him again. "What are you? A Romulan spy?" Kirk sighed. "If I were, wouldn't I be the worst spy in existence?", he retorted. "Well…", Scotty seemed to ponder that. "You see, this wouldn't be the first time that the transporter sends me into some kind of parallel dimension.", Kirk added. "I have only read some speculations about the possibility. But this would need some serious amount of energy to achieve.", Scotty replied. "Energy the _Enterprise_'s warp core is able to produce." Scotty laughed. "Jim, I think you hit your head, lad." Kirk was shocked to hear his engineer address him so casually. "If there was a ship like that, I would know."

"You know what we are going to do? You and the boy are going to lie down for a bit, while I fly the ship back to Star City. Doctor Bones will have a look at you.", Scotty told him rather insistently. "Bones?", Kirk asked, suddenly a bit excited. "They must have gotten you hard. You hate that guy.", Scotty said while shaking his head lightly.

For lack of a better alternative, Peter and Kirk had done as Scotty had suggested. Now, they were sitting in a room that passed as their bedroom, as it seemed. It was rather small and contained nothing but a bunk bed and a hammock. Kirk wondered who slept in the hammock and sat down on the lower bed's mattress. Peter on the other hand jumped into the hammock and swung it back and forth until he collided with the wall. "You know what, Uncle Jim?", he asked after a bit. "What's it?", Jim answered. "This is quite fun." "The hammock?", Kirk asked for specification. "Yes, that too. But I mean that transporter thing. We're going on an adventure together." Kirk frowned. "I think we have a very different definition of fun, Peter."

To his pleasure, Kirk found most of his paperback books stacked in a box under the bed. He looked at them, as they seemed strangely out of place but belonging at the same time. "I believe you like to read, Peter?", he asked his nephew who was already leaning over him. "Yes.", Peter excitedly confirmed. Kirk took one of the books out of his collection. "Do you already know the detective stories of Arthur Conan Doyle?", he asked while waving his antique copy of _The Hound of The Baskervilles_. Peter shook his head and Kirk gave the book to him. Smiling, he left Peter to his own devices.

A short corridor connected the bedroom, a cooking corner, the transporter pad and a small bathroom with the bridge. Another door led to the cargo bay, the signs on the door warning of the atmosphere inside, as it was cold and low in oxygen, and only save to enter with a specialized suit. Kirk used the door that opened to the bridge. Kirk found that it looked a bit similar to the _Enterprise_'s, but only when he squinted. It was only a few square meters in size, but it housed a pilot and navigator station, an engineering corner and a console for environmental control. There was a spiral staircase leading down to the engineering deck. Kirk remarked that it lacked a Captain's chair.

"Estimated time of arrival?", he prompted Scotty, who was sitting on one of the stairs and fiddling with some technical device. "Twelve hours at normal cruising speed.", the engineer replied. Kirk took a few seconds to calculate. "This 'Star City' is zero-point-three light years away? You want to tell me that there are no medical personnel in more than a quarter light year?" Now, Scotty definitely looked at him like he was crazy. "It's only point-zero-four lightyears. What do you think, that we are flying with Warp six?" To be fair, that was the _Enterprise_'s normal cruising speed. "What does this thing even run on, coal?" They stared at each other for a solid minute. "I'm starting to believe you.", Scotty admitted.

Kirk spent some of afternoon figuring out how the coffee-maker worked and producing a cup for Scotty and himself each. He handed it to the other man. "I guess you have to show me around this ship. It doesn't seem to be save that you're the only one who knows how to operate it." The Scotsman nodded. "Aye."

Scotty started by teaching Kirk on how to use the piloting system. It wasn't too hard for either, as the controls were very similar to the ones Starfleet used. "It's strange.", Scotty remarked after a while. "You're very similar to the Jim I know, but also eerily different." "The feeling is returned, Mister Scott.", Kirk replied. "On this _Enterprise_ of yours, do I live there as well?", Scotty wanted to know. Kirk nodded. "You're my chief engineer. Probably one of the smartest guys on board." Scotty seemed to like that. "You're the Captain? And do I get to wear a fancy uniform like you do?", he asked and pointed to Kirk's yellow shirt. "Yes. Except it's red." Scotty stroke his own blue jacket. "I certainly prefer this color."

"May I ask you something as well?", Kirk asked. "Aye.", Scotty offered him. "How come you operate a transport vessel together, you and the other me?" Scotty seemed to think for a moment. "We meet at a bar at some space port. You sat next to me and asked if I knew any good engineers around here. You had just bought your first ship, the _Dandelion_, and needed some crew. I said here I am and you hired me immediately. We became friends soon after and are business partners for five years now. Two years ago, you took Peter on board after his parents were put in prison." "Prison?", Kirk asked, not believing his ears. "Yes. They were part of a drug ring. They made some rather questionable live choices." "This means Sam is still alive?", Kirk immediately wanted to know. "Yes. But not going to walk free for the rest of his life." Kirk found that he was unsure on how to feel about that.

Scotty had decided that Kirk needed to learn how to control and use the cargo-bay. Putting the safety suit on was an unexpected challenge, as there were too many straps for him to handle. Scotty had to help him disentangle himself and to put the suit on correctly. That done, they covered their mouths and noses with breathing masks and entered the cargo-bay through a hermetic double door. While they were waiting for the second door to open, Scotty turned to Kirk. "How much cargo does the _Enterprise_ haul?", he asked. Kirk laughed a bit. "The _Enterprise_ is not a cargo ship, Mister Scott." "No?" "No. She's mainly an exploration vessel but also equipped for combat." By now, the door had opened.

"There's something like an interplanetary fleet, then? Are you part of the military?", Scotty proposed. "We don't like to call it a military fleet. But mostly, probably yes. It's called Starfleet. It's the Federation's exploration and defense organization." Scotty looked at him, while they were going down rows and rows of cargo. "Federation?", he asked, obviously curious. "Don't tell me you don't have a Federation either.", Kirk stated, taken aback. Scotty just kept looking at him. "It's a union between two dozen planets and systems. Earth, Vulcan, Andoria and Tellar were its founding members." Scotty laughed. "Vulcan and Andoria in a union?" By now, they had reached the end of the cargo-bay.

Scotty showed Kirk how to operate the cargo-bay's controls to load and unload the boxes containing the merchandise. This took some time, since Kirk had never before done anything similar. Finally, they were ready to go back to the living quarters. Peter was already standing in the kitchen. "Uncle Jim, I'm hungry.", he announced, while they were taking off their suits. Kirk suppressed the urge to answer 'Hi Hungry, I'm Uncle Jim.' Instead, he looked at Scotty. "I guess it's time for dinner anyway.", the Scotsman said. "The food packs are in this cabinet over there. Why don't you heat some water while I check our course?"

To Kirk's surprise, the kitchenette had a real faucet with real water. He stared at it for a moment before holding what he surmised was a water cooker under it. "Don't you have any sonics around here?", he asked Scotty as he returned. "Any what?", Scotty asked. "It's a way of using alpha-radiation to clean things.", Peter tried to explain. "Why is it called sonic when you are using alpha-radiation?", Scotty asked, now intrigued. "Because of the sound. It was probably figured that things like 'sonic shower' sounded much better than 'radiation shower'.", Kirk explained. Scotty seemed to think while pouring the scolding water over what would soon be the colorful cubes Kirk knew only too well. "I think I could build something like that easily.", he stated.

They spent the evening answering Scotty's questions about the federation, and thereby learning some tidbits about the universe they were currently in. As it appeared, the Vulcans and the Andorians had never ceased fighting, which had prevented the Federation from being founded. Without the Federation, there was no Starfleet and not much exchange of ideas and technology, explaining the _Dandelion_'s sad specs. Luckily, they didn't happen to talk about Peter's parents again, and he didn't ask.

Sleeping in one room with Scotty and Peter was a little awkward, Kirk found. Scotty however, being used to it, took the top bunk like he apparently always did, leaving Kirk the lower bed. Peter happily took the hammock. After Scotty had started to snore slightly and Peter seemed to sleep as well, Kirk began to think. How could they return to their universe? If he just had Spock with him, he wished. Then it dawned him. That was the solution. He just needed to find this universe's Spock and talk him into helping them to get home. But where would he find the Vulcan? He could be everywhere. Maybe this dimension's Bones could help, he thought while drifting into sleep himself.


	3. A Day on Star City

They reached _Star City_ by early morning. The space station looked like a big rusty bucket, sitting in space. It didn't look like anything Kirk had ever seen before. What culture would build such a strange structure? A crunchy sound filled the ship as they connected with their designated docking station. Seeing Kirk's horrified expression, Scotty laughed. "That's normal. Don't ya worry."

The ship's exit was positioned on the crew quarter's ceiling. Scotty pulled down a latter that was mounted right next to it. Excited beyond measurement, Peter stepped on it. "Wait.", Scotty called. The boy stopped. "You can't go out there like that.", Scotty told both of them. "What do you mean?", Kirk asked. Scotty pointed at Kirk's chest. "That yellow shirt just screams trouble. You can't wear that." "Oh.", Kirk understood. "Do you have any clothing laying around?", he added, but Scotty had already opened some cabinet in one of the bulkheads. It was filled with clothes. "You like to wear something like that.", the engineer said and picked an outfit for both Kirk and Peter to wear.

Either his other self or Scotty had no taste in fashion, Kirk pondered while they were walking through the space station. He was wearing a lilac jacket, black trousers and boots made out of a bright-yellow material. Peter had been given a dark-green coverall, which made him look like an early-day colonist.

The station was filled with all different kinds of species. Kirk saw some Tellarites, Ferengis and even some Betazoids and Caitians. But the bulk of people were Human or Orion. Once, they even saw a few Klingons clearing a ship. "Klingons!", Kirk exclaimed in apprehension. "Yes.", Scotty agreed, "What about them?" "Are you not at war with them?", Peter asked. Scotty laughed. "No, why would we?" Both Kirks looked at him in disbelief.

Finally, they arrived at their destination. To his surprise, Kirk found that there was a giant neon sign over the entrance that said 'Dr Bones' Office'. "Why doesn't he go by his real name?", he asked Scotty. "Nobody knows his real name. He keeps it a damn good secret." Kirk sniggered. "That does sound like Bones."

They went inside the doctor's office. Several people were already waiting in the lobby. The three of them sat down on some free chairs. Almost immediately, Bones entered the lobby through another door, a Human patient right before him. "Next.", he said. The doctor looked around the room. He stopped when he saw Kirk. "What are you doing here?", he shouted angrily. Kirk opened his mouth to answer. Bones was faster. Kirk could feel a hypo being pressed against his neck. "Didn't I tell you to never come back?", Bones asked lowly. "Look, I don't know what the other Jim did to you. But I am not him." The hypo was stabbed even deeper into his neck. "Leonard, please.", Kirk urged. The hypo fell out of the doctor's hand.

"Why do you know my first name?", Bones asked incredulously. "Because I am not who you think I am." At that point, the last waiting patient had fled the lobby. "I know even more about you. Your name is Leonard Henry McCoy. You were born in 2227 in Georgia, Earth." McCoy crossed his arms. "And where do you suppose to come from?", he asked, somewhat taken aback. "Some parallel dimension where we are good friends." McCoy grunted. "Sure.", he laughed. "It is true.", Peter chimed in. McCoy stopped laughing and looked at them.

"I have to say, you poked my curiosity there.", Bones said, folding his arms. "It's fascinating, isn't it?", Scotty said to him. "Yeah. But hard to prove." McCoy put away his hypo. "Unless you still have both your kidneys or something.", he half-joked. Kirk blinked. "Why wouldn't I?", he asked. McCoy stared at him in disbelief. "You mean you do?", he asked incredulously. Kirk nodded. Bones grabbed Kirk's arms and pulled him after him, further into his office.

Bones ordered him to lay down on what Jim could only fathom was supposed to be a bio-bed. The thing blinked and beeped for a bit, while the other three anxiously waited for the result. Finally, the beeping stopped. Bones stepped nearer and read the display. Without making a sound, he let himself drop into a nearby chair. "I'll be damned.", he murmured. He turned to Scotty. "What he says is true. But I don't understand why." "Some kind of transporter malfunction.", Scotty shrugged. "I couldn't figure it out either."

Kirk sat up. "I guess you would like to get mine and Peter's counterparts back?", he asked Scotty, who looked rather shaken. "Aye. Don't get me wrong, you're as pleasant as they come, but you're not the guy I know." "I would like to go home too.", Peter said, stepped a bit nearer to his uncle. Kirk nodded. "I know somebody who will probably be able to help us with this." "And who will that be?", Bones wanted to know. "His name is Spock. In the other universe, he is my second in command." "Spock?", Scotty asked. "That sounds mighty Vulcan to me." "His father is a Vulcan, but his mother is from Earth.", Kirk explained. He saw both Scotty's and Bones' eyes widen. "And I guess we will find that guy on Vulcan?", Bones asked. Kirk nodded again. "And I bet he is affiliated with the Vulcan Science Academy in some way."

Bones looked at Scotty. "That guy wants to go to Vulcan.", he stated like it was a big deal. "Kid, are you crazy?", he shouted at Kirk next. "What's the matter?", Kirk asked, not sure what this was all about. Bones sighed. "I guess you really aren't from around here. You can't go to Vulcan. They only let a hand-picked amount of people come to their planet, and the rest is immediately shot down. They have a giant fleet, you understand? A giant fleet that is constantly patrolling their space! You. Can't. Go. There." "We will find a way.", Kirk simply stated. Bones just looked at him furiously, having lost all words. "Just get out of my life.", he finally said, completely defeated.

They left Bones where he was and returned to the _Dandelion_. "I guess you don't want to accompany me either?", he asked Scotty. "The Scotsman laughed. "I never say no to a wee bit of adventure. Besides, there's no way you can get there without my help." Kirk smiled. "Thank you, Scotty."

They had spent the rest of the day clearing most of their load, selling it to other freight ships. Kirk was frankly quite amazed at the efficiency with which the engineer fulfilled the task. He had never known that Scotty was such a good negotiator. He, on the other hand, was not used to mercantile business and simply watched, trying not to botch Scotty's successes. They had left Peter back on the ship, as Scotty had remarked that _Star City_ was maybe not the kind of place one wanted to bring a naïve colonist to if not immediately necessary.

Now, they were back inside the _Dandelion_ again. Kirk plotted a course on which they would reach Vulcan the soonest, and Peter watched him. Scotty was in the crew quarters making their dinner. They would leave in about half an hour, right after eating. Suddenly, they heard someone or something bang against their ship's entrance. Kirk wanted to open it, but Scotty held him back. "Let us see first who it is." He pressed a button and a display turned on. It showed a ruffled Doctor McCoy, banging against their shot in panic. He carried a duffle bag over his shoulder. "I guess we can let him in.", Peter decided. Wordless, Scotty pressed another button and the door opened.

McCoy jumped inside the _Dandelion_, forgetting or not knowing that the ship's gravity was aligned to the station's in a ninety-degree angle. He plopped on the floor with an ugly sound. "Are you alright?", Kirk asked and offered him a hand. The doctor grumbled and stood up by himself. "What brings you here?", Kirk asked next. "Guess I gave it a second thought. I want to come to your crazy adventure. I have to admit that the Orion guy I owe some money to helped, and I can't miss to see you fail spectacularly." Kirk shrugged. "Welcome to the crew, I guess." Just then, they heard another bang against their door. "That's him, that's Reno. I thought I lost him. Damn Orions.", Bones swore. And indeed, the display showed a very angry-looking Orion man, armed to his teeth. Like all Orions, he was a bit over two meters tall.

"Maybe we should leave a bit early.", Kirk told Scotty. "Aye.", the Scotsman replied and sped to the bridge. Kirk followed him. He sat behind the navigator's console while Scotty pressed quite a number of buttons, while still upholding his frantic speed. "Do you know that guy?", Peter asked from the hallway behind the bridge. "Sadly, yes.", was the short reply. A few more buttons pressed, and the _Dandelion_ broke free from the station's grip. Kirk activated his pre-programmed course, and they took off, with full impulse at first, to escape the station's gravity well.

They sat around the table, finally eating their dinner. "This Reno guy, do we own him too?", Kirk asked, still very curious about his other self. Bones sputtered. "Not directly.", Scotty said. "Oh. How's that?" Scotty took a bite of his cubes before answering. "You freed his ware." "Freed his ware?", Peter asked, seeming confused. "I guess he is a slave trader?", Kirk asked with a sigh. "Aye. You managed to take that pup's cuffs off while he wasn't looking. She actually joined us for a few months. We left her on Seti III."

"What's her name?", Kirk wanted to know while staking the plates. "She didn't want us call her by the name given to her by her owners. So, she decided that we should call her Ariadne." "That's a nice name.", Kirk remarked a bit dreamy.

As it turned out, McCoy had brought his own hammock, which he hung in the crew quarter's kitchen. The other three left to sleep in the way they had yesterday. While Scotty fell asleep almost immediately, neither Kirk nor Peter found any rest. "We will get home, won't we?", Peter whispered. "I'm scared.", he added. "I thought you wanted an adventure.", Kirk replied. "Yes. But not like this." Kirk sighed. "Sleep, Peter. We will find a way, I promise. But until then, we must remain calm. Know what, I'm a little scared too." Kirk heard how his nephew curled himself into a ball. "Okay. Good night, uncle Jim." Kirk smiled at that. "Good night, Peter."


	4. The Unicorn

Kirk woke to the sound of alarm bells ringing. Immediately, he leapt out of his bed. He stood and turned, only to find the top bunk empty. Peter sat in his hammock, rubbing his eyes. "What is happening?", he asked, still sleepy. "I do not know.", Kirk told him. Alarmed, he sped out of the sleeping chamber. Outside, he found Bones looking around in confusion. Seeing Jim, he followed him to the bridge.

The bridge was empty if one didn't count the metal scraps, cables and tools laying on the floor in a heap. White smoke came from the engine room downstairs. Without thinking, Kirk ran down the stairs, still followed by Bones. As soon as they entered the ship's Engineering, Scotty appeared, face smeared with something black. The Scotsman hurried to a console on the wall and pressed three buttons. The blaring noise stopped. "What happened?", Kirk asked concerned. Scotty looked behind him, where white smoke still exited the engine, and at them again. "We must have hit a gravity anomaly. The antimatter was activated and the containment system almost overheated. I had to release some pressure, or we would have exploded.", the engineer explained. "Goddam spaceships!", Bones cursed. Kirk padded Scotty's shoulder. "Thanks."

Kirk tried to lend the engineer a hand in repairing the engine. As he had not the slightest idea how the ship's systems worked or were supposed to look, his help mainly consisted of handing him the tools he asked for. About half an hour later, the engine began to hum and Mister Scott to smile. "Tis' finished.", he announced jovially and padded a pipe that was in his vicinity. Kirk smiled too. "Well done, Scotty!", he appraised the engineer with his Captain's voice.

Just then, Bones shouted from above them. "Some big red light is blinking, maybe you should come up here and have a look at it." "You just said that you fixed everything!", Kirk exclaimed towards Scotty. "I did!", he exclaimed back, throwing his hands up. "You're coming, or what?", Bones shouted again. Kirk climbed the stairs in a hurry. The big red light was marked proximity alert. Kirk pressed the button that activated the screen. It lit up immediately and showed another ship, somewhat bigger than theirs, coming at them with an alarming velocity. A short glance at the display showed that it was indeed them moving, not the other ship. Without thinking, Kirk slipped into the pilot's seat and turned off the autopilot. He pushed the little buttons that were the ship's control up, as far as they would go. The ship's nose moved upwards, at least from his perspective, and they missed the other ship barely, scratching some of their hull in the process.

Immediately after, Kirk stopped the engines and just sat there for a few moments to catch his breath. He swiveled the chair around to look at Scotty and Bones behind him. Peter was standing at the bridge door, wide eyed. "Shouldn't we have gotten a sensor reading on that ship before proximity alert was needed?", Kirk asked Scotty. "Not if there are no emissions from the engines. That thing is probably a ghost ship." Kirk turned to the screen again. "It looks quite new though. Maybe there are people on board that need our help?" "Na.", Scotty replied, "It's probably a trap." "But what if it isn't?", Kirk insisted. "We would have left somebody to die. Besides, what kind of trap would that be, a ship that is almost impossible to find and without a distress signal?" Bones looked at him in wonder. "An emergency what now?" "A signal to show other ships that you are having an emergency and need help. Don't tell me you don't have something of that kind around here." The others shook their heads.

"I'm going over there, does anyone want to come along?", Kirk asked, well knowing that he couldn't command the others around like he usually would. "Maybe they have somebody who is injured. I'll come with you.", Bones decided. "I'll just go and fetch my medical equipment." He left the bridge. "Somebody will need to stay behind.", Scotty stated. "Uncle Jim?", Peter asked expectantly. "No Peter, you're staying here as well." "Please.", the boy urged. "I'm going to do everything exactly as you say." Kirk sighed. "It is too dangerous; we don't know what's over there.", he replied. "That is exactly why you need me to come along. If you want to be prepared or the unknown, you need to draw on very possible resource.", Peter cited Starfleet's strategy handbook. Kirk chuckled a bit. They were definitely related. "If you insist. But be careful.", he finally allowed.

They were standing on the _Dandelion's _beaming platform, Kirk in the middle, Bones to the right and Peter to the left. Scotty handed Kirk an unshapely formed communication device. "Call me when you want to come back.", he said. He walked up to the control panel. "Ready?", he asked. Bones nodded before Kirk could say _'Energize!'_, and they were gone almost immediately. The other ship was dark, and Kirk only now realized that they should have brought a flashlight. They were in what looked like a proper transporter room, with a door closing it off. With Peter's help, Kirk managed to crank it open. The corridor outside was only dimly lit. "It there someone here?", he asked into the darkness. No response. Warily, they stepped into the corridor. "I think there is light down there.", Bones whispered and pointed to one end of the corridor. It was true.

They were standing in front of the door through which the light shimmered. "Do you hear that?", Peter asked. Kirk listened. "The singing?", he asked. Peter nodded. "Maybe it's a record.", McCoy speculated. "Let's find out.", Kirk said and pressed the door opener. The door swished open. The singing became much louder, but it stopped almost immediately. Three faces stared at them in disbelief, two men and a woman. To his own disbelief, Kirk knew them. "Uhura?", he asked the woman. She nodded. "Are you here to help us, or do you just want an autograph?", she asked. "We just stumbled upon your ship and decided to investigate. Do you have a technical problem?", Kirk replied, unsure what she meant. "Yes. But who are you anyway?", the older man replied. "My name is James Kirk, the one over here is Doctor McCoy and this is my nephew Peter.", Kirk explained.

"Welcome to the _Unicorn_, I guess. Those are Pavel Chekov, my manager, and Hikaru Sulu, who is supposed to fly this ship. And me, you already know.", Uhura said while pointing. "Yes, we do, my lady.", McCoy returned, letting his southern charm show. Kirk turned to him. "You know her too?", he asked. Bones laughed. "Who doesn't? Nyota Uhura is one of the most prolific singers in the galaxy." McCoy was looking at him like he was an idiot for not knowing. "Of course. I was just joking.", he lied. Uhura a super star? Frankly, Kirk was amazed.

"Is anyone hurt?", McCoy managed to ask. The three shook their heads. "Maybe a little bruised, but otherwise fine. The ship however…", Sulu said. "What's with the ship?", Kirk inquired. "I'm not sure. I think we hit a gravity well or something. Anyways, our antimatter is gone." Kirk nodded in understanding. "That thing almost got us too. Maybe our engineer can fix your engine." He pulled out the strange communication device Scotty had given him. He pushed the only button. "Scotty, can you beam over Bones and beam over yourself?" The device crackled. "Is there anybody over there?", he heard the Scotsman say. "Yes. We found three people. They hit the same gravitational anomaly we did. The pilot says the antimatter is gone." The device crackled again. "I will dock then. Maybe I can do something to fix that mess." "Alright. Kirk out."

The docking sequence took longer than Kirk expected. From a small window next to the ship's docking bay that Sulu had led them too, he and Peter could watch Scotty maneuver the _Dandelion_ into position. From the time Kirk had docked at the station, he knew that the little ship missed navigational technology that his universe had. He was therefore even more impressed than he usually would have been. Finally, the two ships clicked together and the doors opened as one. Scotty climbed up the ladder and into the _Unicorn_. He looked around. "Quite dark in here.", he commented.

"Where are these people that can't repair their engine themselves?", he asked next. That exact moment, Uhura entered. "Here, I'm afraid.", she said. For a moment, Scotty just stood there and looked at her, eyes wide and mouth slightly opened. "I didn't know it was you, my lady. For you, I'm going to do my very best.", he said charmingly. Uhura smiled. "If it's like that, may I show you the engineering room?", she asked. "Aye. Please lead the way.", Scotty immediately agreed. Smiling brightly, Scotty followed her.

Kirk looked after them, smiling knowingly. After they left, Peter looked at his uncle. "What was that about?", he asked naïvely. Kirk chuckled. "You see, they act the exact same in our universe.", he replied, not caring that he didn't answer Peter's question. "Hm?", Peter insisted. "I'm going to explain it to you when you are older.", Kirk masterfully evaded him. "Let's see what the others are doing.", Kirk decided and gestured his nephew to follow him.

Chekov, Sulu and Bones were still sitting in that room they left them in. Bones turned to him as he entered, his eyes glittering. "Jim, you're not going to believe this.", he told him excitedly. "What's it?", Kirk replied. "Tell him where you where going.", Bones prompted Chekov. "To Vulcan. Miss Uhura was invited to perform there.", Chekov told Kirk. "I don't understand why this excites you so much.", he said in McCoy's direction. "We are going to Vulcan too.", Kirk explained. "Ah. What are you invited for?", Sulu asked. "We weren't invited.", Kirk deadpanned. Chekov and Sulu looked at him in shock. "Are you some kind of criminals?", Chekov inquired, alarmed, and jumped into a standing position. "No. Don't worry.", Kirk assured him. "We just want to visit a friend of mine." Sulu raised an eyebrow. Differently than Chekov, he had remained sitting. "A friend?", he asked. "He's a Vulcan.", Peter chimed in. "How did you befriend a Vulcan?", Chekov asked. "Long story.", Kirk tried to evade the question. "Please tell.", Uhura said from behind him. She must have entered without him noticing.

They were all seated on the couches around the room that was probably supposed to be a passenger accommodation. "Me and Peter are not from your universe. There was a transporter accident and we were exchanged with our counterparts from this dimension. Therefore, we need a certain Vulcan scientist to help us get back." Sulu broke into laughter. "Sure.", he said. "And in this other dimension, you probably captain a giant ship and don't need to haul cargo.", he added jokingly. Kirk looked him straight in the eyes. "I do.", he insisted. "He's telling the truth. I can't explain why, but what he says is correct.", McCoy chided in. "Look.", Kirk said and sighed. "I will prove it to you. Where I come from, we are friends. But here, we never met before." He looked around the room. Everybody nodded in agreement.

"Chekov, your favorite joke is the one that all and everything was invented in Russia. You don't really believe in it, but you like to annoy others." Chekov looked like he was caught red-handed. Kirk smiled. "Sulu.", he went on, "You may be a pilot, but your passion is in botany. It was your grandfather who taught you how to care for plants." Sulu frowned. Last, Kirk looked at Uhura. "And you, you might be a great musician, but you're also a great linguist. You speak eight languages fluently and you can understand another four." "It's seven languages, but you're still eerily correct.", Uhura commented. "I guess we have to believe you.", Sulu submitted.

Scotty entered. "The antimatter was automatically released so it's easily repaired. I'll just go to the _Dandelion_ and get you some of our antimatter. You will be warping again in no time.", he announced. "I want to compensate you somehow. I can pay you for it.", Uhura offered them. "If you want to return the favor, you can get us to Vulcan.", Kirk said. "Deal.", Uhura decided.


	5. Vulcan

The _Unicorn _warped through space, the _Dandelion_ right behind it. Scotty had fixed the first ship's core within minutes and now they were en route to Vulcan. Kirk, Peter and Bones had returned to their ship, and were now sitting in the crew's quarters. Kirk watched as Scotty worked on his idea of a sonic shower, as there was nothing more interesting to do. The way to Vulcan was long, especially in this spaceship. Bones was fiddling with his medical supplies, counting and calibrating, and Peter was reading one of Kirk's books. Lulled by the ship's engine's rhythmic sound, he fell asleep in his chair.

In his dream, he was back on the _Enterprise_. He sat in his chair, in the middle of the bridge. Uhura was at the comm station, Chekov and Sulu in front of him at the helm as navigator and pilot. The room was filled with subdued chatter that Kirk could not filter through. Next to him was Spock, holding a PADD and talking to him. "Captain, have you been listening?", the Vulcan asked sharply. "Kirk looked at him. "No Mister Spock. I'm sorry. Would you be so nice and repeat yourself?", he said to him. The Vulcan sighed loudly. "As I told you, there is an uncountable number of parallel dimensions. I will need more data to determine your current position.", Spock said. "What is written in your transport logs and what was your exact position in relation to the galaxy's core?"

"Will I be able to go back?", Kirk asked. The Vulcan raised an eyebrow. "I cannot say. After all, I am merely a projection of your subconscious mind. And you, Captain, are no clairvoyant, at least to my knowledge.", the Vulcan replied. Out of a sudden urge, Kirk looked his First in Command into the eyes. "I miss your expertise, Spock.", he told him. The Vulcan laughed. "Oh, Jim.", he said between burst of laughter, "Are you sure that that is the only thing you miss?" Before Kirk could answer anything, the comm system on the chair's armrest beeped. Out of reflex, Kirk pressed the button. "Jim, you marmot, wake up.", he heard Scotty say. Spock raised the second eyebrow too and laughed even more.

Suddenly, he was shaken awake. Scotty looked into his face. "What's it?", he managed to mumble. "I finished the sonic shower. I need you to tell me whether I did it right." Kirk nodded and wiped the drool from the table, using his sleeve. "Where is it?", he asked. "Over here.", Peter announced from behind him. Kirk stood, a bit shaky, and looked at the construct. It resembled the apparatus that was installed in the _Enterprise_'s bathrooms. "It looks like the real thing.", he lauded Scotty's creation. The Scotsman looked mighty proud. "Have you tested it already?", Kirk inquired next. The other shook his head. "I finished it only now. I dinna have the time." "You will want to calibrate it correctly, or you might burn your skin.", Kirk explained.

As expected, Scotty did indeed burn his arm as he held it under the radiation stream. Cursing in Gaelic, he searched for a drill to adjust the outlet. Kirk had to keep himself from laughing. When Scotty was already adjusting, McCoy came around the corner. "Is that a radiation burn?", he asked, a bit surprised. "Aye.", the Scotsman agreed nonchalantly. Without a word but shaking his head, Bones took him by his uninjured arm and pushed him into a nearby chair. From the medical supplies that were still scattered over the kitchen table, he took a jar, opened it and rubbed the contend over Scotty's arm. "Maybe you should build a dermal regenerator next.", Kirk joked as he watched. "A what now?", Bones asked. "A handheld device that heals skin within minutes.", Kirk explained. Bones looked at him for a long moment. "Sounds like magic to me.", he mumbled.

Some time later, after he and Peter had discussed the book he had read, they were hailed by the _Unicorn_. "This is the border to Vulcan space. So, what's your plan?", they heard Chekov say. Everyone looked at Kirk. He realized only now that he hadn't really thought about a plan. "Me and Peter beam over to you and you take us to the surface. We'll just pose as your assistants or something.", he improvised. "That doesn't sound like a good plan.", Sulu said in the background. "I know what I am doing.", Kirk lied.

Now, they were standing in front of the transporter. Kirk turned to Scotty. "Thanks for helping us and not throwing us out of an airlock.", he said. The Scotsman grinned brightly. "'Twas nothing. Just see that you succeed, will ya?", he replied and padded Kirk's side. "Bye.", Bones said. "I hope you're not roasted to death down there." Kirk laughed. This version was even more blunt than he was used to. "Moment, I almost forgot", Scotty shouted. He gave him a data card. On it were the transport information that were surely needed. He and Peter stepped on the platform. Scotty pressed a few buttons, and within seconds, they were on the _Unicorn_.

Sulu was already tapping away on the helm when Kirk and Peter entered the bridge. "Ah, Mister Kirk.", Uhura called to them from her seat. Would you mind to explain to us the plan you have devised?", she asked. Kirk nodded. "When you are near the Shi'Kahr space port, you beam us out. Somewhere into the desert, but near the city would be best. As this is a quite illogical thing to do, the Vulcan's will think that it was an energy flux, given that they are scanning at all." Kirk felt quite anxious. He wasn't used to have so little information. Uhura nodded. "Alright."

Only a few minutes after, they were stopped by a Vulcan Scout ship. The yellow thing with its circle-shaped warp nacelle gloomed over them. They were hailed almost immediately. "State your purpose.", a stern looking Vulcan in a black uniform prompted them. "This is the _Unicorn_, transporting Nyota Uhura to Vulcan for a concert.", Chekov said. The Vulcan's face was still as stone. "Authorization number.", he said louder than needed. He probably had troubles understanding the lively Russian. Chekov reached for a PADD. "Authorization number 12768 and…", Chekov paused. "A Vulcan letter that is formed like a spiral with a line through it.", he added after a moment. The Vulcan gave him a murderous look. "Number 12768-taFar, access granted. Please proceed your journey.", the stern Vulcan said and cut the conversation. "Welcoming people.", Sulu remarked, irony swinging in his voice.

As they neared the planet, Kirk could see strange satellites circling around the red planet. Were those a planetary defense parameter? Maybe Bones and Scotty hadn't been that wrong after all. Against all fears, they could enter the atmosphere without troubles. Nearer and nearer Shi'Kahr came when suddenly Sulu turned to them. "I think now would be the perfect moment to beam down." "Thanks again for saving us.", Uhura said. The other two nodded in Kirk and Peter's direction.

Uncle and nephew materialized on a rocky plane. The second sun was just about to rise; it was still early in the day. "Shi'Kahr is in that direction.", he said to Peter and pointed to their left. They started to walk. After a while of silence, Peter spoke up. "Why couldn't we just beam into the city?", he asked, obviously unhappy about the walk in the heat. "We would have risked being spotted.", Kirk explained. "But if we walk into the city like we are, won't we be spotted too?" Smart boy, Kirk thought. "Not if we get ourselves some robes first." "Stealing, Uncle Jim?", the boy asked, flabbergasted. "No, just borrowing.", he tried to soothe him.

When they reached the city's edge after about half an hour of marching, Kirk saw what he had hoped for. Between the small houses that stood here, clothes lines had been hung, clothes waving in the wind. They waited behind a corner for a few minutes. When nobody appeared, Kirk hushed to the nearest line and took two cloaks with big hoods. In seconds, he was behind the corner again. He handed Peter the slightly smaller one. "Put this on.", he ordered him.

"You know, this isn't right. Maybe this person you stole these clothes from has no others. I heard that some Vulcans have only two sets of clothing.", Peter said from behind his hood. They were already much farther into the city. Kirk made a shushing sound. "We'll give them back if it makes you stop bickering. But now, be silent. Somebody might hear that we are speaking Standard." Peter stopped talking, but crossed his arms. Kirk sighed lightly and remembered when he had been like that.

"Where do you think we should look for Commander Spock?", Peter asked as they reached the city center. Here, many skyscrapers rose into the sky, the blue glass shining in the light. "I would guess the Science Academy.", Kirk said, his voice slightly muffled by the hood of his cloak. It was ironic. Usually, Spock would be the one who had to hide his ears, but on this Vulcan, it was him. Luckily, nobody had seen through their disguise just yet. "What does this Academy look like?", Peter wanted to know. Kirk looked around him. "In our dimension, the Academy is housed in that black tower over there." Kirk pointed to the building. He had only seen it on pictures, but had remembered the building for its imposing size and color.

They were standing in some distance to the building. Over its entry, there was a glowing sign, but it was entirely written in Vulcan. Kirk had been taught a few phrases in that language, mostly by Spock, but it didn't help him read these words. Behind the glass doors that led inside however, Kirk could see a line of people, patiently waiting to be checked in and to walk through a metal detector. All of them were wearing the white and green uniform of Vulcan Scientist. "We're at the correct place.", he informed Peter. "Now, we only need to figure out how to enter."

They walked around the building, looking for another entryway when they saw a few men unloading a transportation vehicle and carrying boxes full of equipment inside the tower. All of them were wearing hooded cloaks, just like the two of them. They waited until all of them were inside, and grabbed one of the boxes each. Trying to act casual, they entered the building. A security guard was standing next to the door, but he hadn't seen them coming. They moved further into the building. When they were around the next corner, Kirk whispered to his nephew to put the box down and to follow him. The corridor broke in two, and Kirk chose the one that was brightened by sunlight.

And indeed, they entered the lobby, just behind the security check point. Giant windows let the suns' light inside and several free-standing elevators carried people up and down. Kirk noted that they were indeed antiquated elevators and not turbolifts. They walked to a big board on which the floors and their departments were listed. Thankfully, these were accompanied by helpful pictograms. "Which one?", Peter asked silently in the crowded area. "Probably physics, but maybe biology or chemistry. He is very versatile concerning the natural sciences." Peter seemed to think. "Do you speak any Vulcan, Uncle Jim?", he asked. "Just a bit. Why?" "Maybe we can ask the lady behind that desk over there.", Peter explained.

Kirk hoped that his accent wasn't too obvious. "Aitlu nash-ve yaretau Spock.", he tried. The woman nodded and typed away on a keyboard. "Lan-tol dah-leh-sheh.", she told him. "Nemaiyo.", Kirk thanked her. He took Peter by the arm and pulled him away. "What did she say?", his nephew wanted to know. "Apparently, Spock is on the twenty-sixth floor."

Together they entered one of the elevators and Kirk pressed what he hoped was the button for the twenty-sixth floor. Soon after, the doors opened and they saw into what looked like a physics laboratory. They stepped inside and the elevator drove away. Even though the floor was quite large, there was nobody to be seen. Silently, they walked around the tables full of scientific instruments. Suddenly, Kirk felt two eyes rest on him. Somebody was sitting half underneath a table and looking up to him. And he knew the someone. "Spock?", he asked, surprised. For a moment, both just stared at each other. Kirk found that Spock looked rather strange. Even paler than usual and less muscular too. The science uniform didn't quite fit him.

The moment ended abruptly when Spock jumped up from his hiding place and ran to the door like his life depended on it. He pressed a button and shouted something Vulcan into the speaker next to it. Guessing what that could be, Kirk took the data card from his pocket and put it on the nearest table. Only seconds later, four security guards stormed the laboratory.


	6. Meeting an Old Friend for the First Time

To his relative surprise, Kirk found that the Science Academy had its own holding cell. After Spock had called the security guards, they had neck pinched him. Peter had put up less of a fight, and had been allowed to stay conscious. When Kirk awoke, he was in a small room with a force field as one of the walls. Peter had been kneeling next to him, wide eyed. "Uncle Jim!", he exclaimed happily as Kirk came about. "Are you alright?", he asked next. Kirk nodded. "I'm fine." He sat up and looked around. "How long have we been in here?", he finally asked. "For about an hour, I believe." "And nobody has come to question us?" Peter shook his head. "I haven't seen anybody at all."

Next, Kirk tried the force field. It wasn't as strong as he was used to, but it still didn't let him break through. Instead, he was thrown to the ground. "I have no idea how to get out of here.", he told Peter from his position on the floor. They just sat there for a few minutes, not knowing what to do. They waited for something, anything really, to happen. "I'm sorry, Uncle Jim.", Peter said, breaking the silence. Kirk frowned. "What for?", he asked. "For urging you to show me around the _Enterprise_. That's what got us in this situation, didn't it?", he explained. Kirk looked his nephew straight into the eyes. "It is not your fault. What got us in this situation is bad luck on a stellar level. In fact, nobody is at fault." He padded Peter's shoulder. "Know what?", he asked rhetorically. "I don't believe in no-win scenarios. We'll get out of here somehow."

Again, they sat there in silence, leaning against the cell's back wall. "Wasn't that a no-win scenario back on Deneva? What should my parents have done to save themselves?", Peter asked, sounding like he was going to cry. Kirk tried to think about something to say to him, mentally smacking himself. "I…", he begun, when, mercifully, Spock came around a corner.

"What did you want?", he asked without preface. Despite of that, his voice had nothing of the authoritative tone the other Spock used for interrogations. It also sounded like he had barely any experience speaking Standard. When neither answered, too stunned by his sudden appearance, he went on. "I have analyzed the data on the card you have left in my laboratory. You are from a different reality. What I don't understand is, why you came to me."

Kirk's mind raced. He had spent all his energy on finding Spock, but he hadn't thought about what to tell him to make him collaborate. "I know you are great with such things. In fact, you, well I mean the other you, saved me from an alternate reality before. That's why I tried to find you." Spock weakly raised an eyebrow. "Where do you know this 'other me' from?", he inquired. "Back from the academy.", Kirk replied. Noticing that Spock had no idea what he was talking about, he added: "We are very good friends." Spock looked like he was barely keeping himself from laughing. "You are lying. I do not have friends."

Kirk was floored. "Of course you do. And I'm not lying. If you don't believe me, why don't you come in here and meld with me?", he replied, somewhat angry at Spock's resistance. The Vulcan on the other side of the force field looked slightly offended. "I shall not meld with a stranger." Kirk sighed. "I'm not going to give you a mind virus or something. Just tell me what is more likely: That I'm some agent or whatever from a different reality, dragging my nephew along to the job, or that I'm telling the truth?" Spock seemed to think for a moment. "I might believe you, but I whish to verify." Kirk nodded. Spock pressed a button and the force field disappeared. Suddenly, he held a handheld laser cutter in his hand. "Do not try to escape.", Spock said, waving it.

Kirk stood, but Spock indicated for him to kneel down. Seconds later, he felt a warm hand on the side of his face and heard Spock murmur something in Vulcan. He had melded with Spock before. The other Spock, that is of course. Normally, they would be connected in an instance. But now, they both had to fight through what felt like a thick wall made out of honey. Finally, after what felt like a life time, Spock's mind broke through the wall and swept into Kirk's. "Show me.", his mental voice commanded. Kirk replied by leading him to his memories of Spock. Them playing chess together, them eating in the mess hall, Spock saving his day on countless occasions, them on the bridge. He was just about to show him their time at the academy, when their connection broke, Spock's mind retreating into his own and the wall closing again.

Kirk opened his eyes. In front of him, on the floor, lied Spock, half unconscious. "What happened?", he asked Peter, immediately rushing to check on Spock. "I don't know.", Peter said, "He just collapsed." Kirk shook Spock in an effort to wake him up. It worked and the Vulcan opened his eyes. "Jim!", he exclaimed, almost smiling. "It might have worked too well.", Peter commented from his corner, but Kirk ignored him. "Do you now understand?", he asked Spock. The other nodded. "You are my friend, and not my only one. We travel in space. I would prefer to perform my studies in space too." And then, the Vulcan began to laugh.

Kirk looked to Peter, him mirroring his shock. The moment lasted only for a few seconds. "Please excuse my digression.", Spock said after he had caught himself. "It's alright.", Kirk replied. "I shall help you return to your reality. You are not meant to be here." Spock looked around like he was expecting to see somebody. "But first, we need to leave this place.", he told the Kirks.

Spock led them out of the area with the holding cells. To Kirk's surprise, he found that they had been at the very top of the building and not somewhere underground like he had thought. Spock led them to a service elevator, well hidden behind an inobtrusive door. Once inside, he pressed a button and the elevator car moved downwards. "Why didn't anybody stop us?", Kirk asked. "The security system may have malfunctioned.", Spock explained stoically. Peter snickered. "And I also caused a diversion so nobody would realize.", Spock added. "What's that?", Kirk wondered. "I overrode manual control in all elevators except this one. They are now randomly assigned to locations.", Spock replied. "Quite the diversion indeed.", Kirk laughed. Just then, they had arrived at their own location.

They stepped into a maintenance room. "What do we want here?", Peter asked. "Nothing.", Spock answered. He led them through the room that was packed with cleaning materials, opening a door at the other side. They were led into a parking garage. "You have a car?", Kirk asked, not having expected that one coming. "Yes.", Spock simply said. He pulled a key out of one of his pockets and pressed on it. In some distance, one of the cars beeped and flashed.

Kirk hadn't been in a car like this since he had been a teenager. His father had had one. It had been hidden in the barn under a stack of hey when he had bought the farm, a story he had liked to tell his sons. It had been old and rusty and the amperage coming out of their modern plugs had been too high for its battery, but his father had managed to repair it somewhat, just enough that he could drive them around their land in a slow pace. His father had sold it to a collector before they went to Tarsus IV.

The car's inside was as black as its outside. Kirk sat in one of the passenger seats in the back, next to Peter. "What are those for?", Peter asked him and fiddled with a sturdy belt. "Security measures.", Kirk explained and slung the seat belt around the boy. "Are you ready?", Spock asked from behind the wheel. "As ready as I'll ever be.", Kirk mumbled.

The car whirred through the streets. Kirk could see a Vulcan that was in some ways behind the one he knew, in other's exactly like it. "Where are you taking us?", Kirk wondered after a while. "The space-port.", Spock replied, "I can return you, but only at the exact place the accident occurred. And this is, according to your data, in the orbit of Betelgeuse II." They moved along a big building that looked like a mixture between a football stadium, the Sydney opera house and a monstrous clam. "What's this for?", Peter asked. "This is _shi t'spes-lar_; the hall of voices. The location where we discuss politics."

The space-port was somewhat outside _Shi'Kahr_, at the edge of the desert and beneath the _L'lagon_ mountains. "You don't happen to own a space ship too, don't you?", Kirk inquired. "My parents have chosen our family's star ship to transport them on their current mission. It is therefore not available." "Your father is a diplomat and your mother a linguist?", Kirk asked too see if it was the same as in his dimension. "Yes. You know them?", Spock wondered. Kirk smiled. "I've met them. Does your mother teach at the VSA in this reality too?" The Vulcan shook his head. "She does not. Aliens are not allowed within the Academy's grounds. I was able to enter due to my father's power wielding, but I am only assigned to low priority projects with no funding. Additionally, no one whishes to share a laboratory with me, as you have surely realized. Most days, I work on my own projects, but not a single paper of mine has been accepted."

In the car, all was silent for a moment. "And I am also not allowed the use of one of the Academy's space ships. In fact, I am not allowed to leave the planet at all.", Spock added. "You've never been somewhere else? Always in this place that doesn't even accept you for who you are because of genetics?", Kirk enervated himself. He couldn't believe this! "Yes.", Spock deadpanned. "Well, its time then that you finally do. We'll get a ship somehow."

As they stepped into the space-port's entry hall, after Spock had parked the car in a car park right next to it, they came upon several big signs, written in Vulcan of course. "What do they say?", Peter asked. "No passing this point without passport.", Spock read and pointed to the line of Vulcans waiting for their passports to be checked. "That's not an option, then.", Kirk realized. "You found your Vulcan, it seems.", Uhura suddenly said. Kirk jumped in surprise, earning several stern glances. "Who is this?", Spock asked him. "Spock, may I introduce you to Miss Uhura, the musician?", Kirk replied. Spock raised an eyebrow. "I have heard of you, but what I heard was rather negative.", he told Uhura. She gave him a look. "Believe it or not, you're apparently not the only one."

"We're going to leave in an hour.", Uhura said next. "Why?", Kirk asked, "I thought you told me you were staying for a week?" "We were going to, but not after today's performance." Kirk frowned. "What happened?" "Well, it turns out that Vulcans don't actually care about my music. Through the whole gig, I could hear them call me names and make fun of me. They must have realized that I know Vulcan, as I spoke it through the whole introduction. And at the end of it, there was a pack of men trying to pick me up or whatever they call it, because apparently Human girl are super easy." Uhura actually growled before she calmed herself and sighed. "I'm not going to play another concert. Should we take you with us?", she offered. "We would really like to, but I don't think we can pass this passport checkpoint.", Kirk said and pointed to it. Uhura smiled. "I would like to prove you wrong.", she said.

She did indeed prove them wrong. After she had pulled them into one of the small waiting lounges in one of the walls, she opened the big suitcase she had with her. To everyone else's surprise, it was empty. "I thought you may turn up sooner or later, so I waited.", she gave as a way of explanation. From a pocket, she fished two passports. "You're going to be Pavel.", she said and handed one to Peter, "And you're going to be Sulu.", she said and gave the other one to Kirk. "They're already on the ship. On the way in, they accidently interchanged their passports, and nobody realized. I'm positive that this is going to work." "And Spock?", Kirk asked. Uhura smiled and turned to the Vulcan. "And you, Mister Vulcan, are going inside the suitcase." Spock frowned. "My name is Spock.", he remarked, seemingly unfazed by the prospect of climbing into a suitcase. "Yeah, whatever.", Uhura supplied.

Rolled tightly into himself, Spock fit surprisingly well into the suitcase. Kirk had to snicker, because it looked absolutely hilarious. His Spock would have thrown him a glance somewhere between anger and amusement, but this one just kept very still. "Uncle Jim, the coats.", Peter reminded him of his promise. "I presume you stole them?", Spock asked from the suitcase. "Yes.", Kirk admitted. "Do they have name tags?", Spock asked next. They both slipped out of the garments. "Is this a name?", Kirk asked as he showed Spock the tag on the coats inside. "Yes. Just leave them here, and they will be returned as lost and found.", Spock said.

That done, they left the lounge. Kirk had taken it on him to handle the suitcase, as it was quite heavy now, for a suitcase at least. They passed the checkpoint without any delay, and the personnel did indeed not check whether they were actually the correct people or not. Bags and suitcases weren't controlled at all. Smuggling was, after all, illogical.

After that, they had to walk for a bit, mostly over the field filled with space ships, until they reached the _Unicorn_. They must have been spotted from the inside, as the door was promptly opened upon their arrival. As soon as he had pulled the suitcase inside and the door was closed, Kirk opened it. Spock emerged, looking slightly mushed and stretching his limbs. "_Sem-rik_.", he uttered under his breath as he looked around. Kirk looked at Uhura in question. "Fascinating.", she translated.


	7. The Enterprise

Merely a few minutes later, they were in the air and leaving the atmosphere. During all this, Spock stood next to the bridge's viewing port, intently watching as the ground became continuously smaller. Smiling, Kirk stepped next to him. "Impressive, isn't it?", he asked to start a conversation. "Yes.", Spock said, still staring out the window. "Everything is so small, almost insignificant.", Kirk mused, remembering his first time leaving earth. Spock nodded. Just then, the _Unicorn_ had exited Vulcan's thin atmosphere, and the stars shone clearer and brighter than ever, their light only being diminished by gravitational distortions. "It is more aesthetically pleasing than I presumed.", Spock remarked, now looking at Kirk.

They passed the planet's security satellites. "How did you get permission to leave out of your schedule?", Spock suddenly asked. "What do you mean?", Chekov wanted to know. "You cannot leave the planet on your own accord. You need a permission.", Spock replied, slightly uneasy. "I take it we don't have one?", Sulu asked from his position at the helm. "We don't.", Uhura confirmed. Everyone turned to Kirk. "What do we do now?", Peter asked him. Kirk began to think. What should they do? They had no shields or weapons, and their highest possible speed was Warp 4. They had only one possible course of action. "Hit it, Mister Sulu.", he ordered. "The fastest we can go is full impulse,", Sulu replied, "as we are still in orbit." "Good enough.", Kirk said. They speed up to full impulse.

Without warning, a light at the helm started flashing. "We're being send a message.", Uhura explained, seeing Kirk's glance. She pressed a button next to light. "Identify yourself. If you resist, you shall be boarded.", they heard a Vulcan say. "Can we go to Warp now?", Kirk asked. "Yes, but only Warp 1.", Sulu replied. Without waiting for a reply, Sulu engaged the Warp engines. The stars elongated themselves into white lines.

"We are still being pursued.", Uhura remarked. "Two Vulcan Scout ships.", she added. Metal creaked and thundered, and they were all thrown to the floor. Spock threw Kirk a questioning glance. "We're being fired at.", Kirk explained to everyone's shock. Sulu just managed to get into his seat before they were hit again. This time, it was even louder. "We lost our engines.", Sulu shouted over the noise of burning electronics. Smoke filled the bridge. 'Kobayashi Maru.', Kirk thought. "There is another ship.", Chekov proclaimed. For a few moments, they just sat there and waited for the end. Peter whimpered a bit and Kirk took him in his arms. But then, nothing happened.

"Why aren't they firing?", Uhura asked. "Maybe they have changed their mind?", Sulu proposed. "They are probably about to board us.", Kirk said. They waited for another few moments. Spock stared out the viewing port. Suddenly, he turned to Kirk who was still hugging his nephew. "Look.", he prompted. Kirk let go of Peter and looked. In the distance, he could see the two Scouts. To his confusion, he realized that they were under fire. The firing ship must have been somewhere behind them, as he couldn't see it. Then, the fire ceased. The _Unicorn_ began to move again. "I thought the engines are dead?", Kirk wondered. "They still are.", Sulu answered, "I think we are being pulled." "A tractor beam!", Kirk shouted in joy. "What are you referring to?", Spock asked. Kirk's eyes widened. "You don't have tractor beams?", he asked. Spock shook his head. Kirk's mind reeled at the implication.

They couldn't see the ship that was pulling them, but they realized that they must be travelling with Warp 3 at least. Silently, Kirk asked himself whether it was indeed the ship he believed it was. It couldn't be! Soon, they left Vulcan space and stopped again. Silently, they waited for something to happen. Would they be boarded? Just then, Kirk felt his being dematerialize.

When they reappeared, Kirk couldn't believe his eyes. This was the _Enterprise_'s transporter room! And even better, behind the controls stood Scotty, red uniform and everything, like it was supposed to be. Next to him was Commander Spock, inspecting his counterpart. "Captain, are you alright?", he asked. Kirk nodded and stepped down from the platform. Everybody followed his lead. "How did you get here?", he asked his Spock. "We concluded that you must be caught in a parallel reality when we received Peter's and your counterparts. We assessed that you had no access to the technology you needed to return; therefore, I devised a way to send the ship to this reality."

"You risked the whole ship just to rescue me?", Kirk asked him, aghast. "It was hardly a risk.", Spock replied dismissively. Just then, Bones stormed into the transporter room. "Jim!", he exclaimed and hugged him. Realizing that everyone was staring, Bones let go of him again. "Are you Commander Spock?", the Vulcan scientist asked while this was going on. "Indeed.", the other replied and folded his arms. "I have to say that this is rather disorienting.", Scientist Spock commented. "How have you found him?", the Commander asked his Captain, pointing to the other Spock. "Long story.", Kirk laughed. "By the way, I think there's another ship still waiting for us.", he added. Spock's eyes glittered. "We have already taken Lieutenants Scott's and Doctor McCoy's counterparts on board.", he replied. "I'm telling you, he's absolutely terrible!", Bones growled. Kirk laughed.

Spock and Kirk were walking in a hallway, on their way to the bridge. Peter trailed after them. "You haven't explained how you managed to send the ship into this reality.", Kirk remarked. "Indeed.", Spock agreed. "Are you familiar with the Hendrig theorem?", he continued. "More or less. It's that one that says it would be possible to tear a portal between two realities using matter of the one where you want to go, isn't it?", Kirk asked. Spock nodded. "We have filled the matter chamber of a photon torpedo with the clothing of our two visitors. We let the matter mix with the antimatter in front of the ship and warped through the instable portal." Kirk shook his head. "You risked more than four-hundred people on a theorem?", Kirk asked. "I let the crew vote on whether they wanted to be part of the experiment or not. There has been only one vote against.", Spock replied. "Who was that?", Kirk asked. "Doctor McCoy. He however seemed to have changed his mind after seeing the results of the vote. He remarked that I had won and used a rather racist epithet." Kirk laughed, knowing Bones well enough to not take it seriously.

The bridge was exactly like Kirk remembered. He had not been gone for too long, after all. Kirk sat in his seat in the middle, while Peter looked around in awe. Spock went to his station. Kirk hit the communications button on the armrest. "Scotty.", he called. "Yes, Captain?", the Scotsman replied. "Can you go over there and repair the _Unicorn's_ engines?", he ordered. "I'm already on it, Sir.", Scott explained. "How long will it take?", Kirk asked next. "Ahh. A day or two, I believe." Kirk nodded. "I'll send the other you to help. Kirk out."

Spock turned to him. "I have finished all the calculations for our flight back to our reality.", he informed him. Kirk nodded to show his satisfaction. "That only leaves us to say good-bye.", he said to Peter and stood. "The counterparts are in the senior officer's meeting room.", Spock helpfully supplied. "Thank you, Commander.", Kirk replied, glad to be on the _Enterprise_ again.

What Spock had forgotten to mention, however, was that Kirk's and Peter's counterparts were there as well. Kirk stopped and stared at the man. It was like looking into a mirror, but it felt very, very wrong. "You must be Captain Kirk.", the other finally said. He even sounded like him! "I am.", Kirk replied. "And this is Peter.", he added. The other snorted. "I know. I have one of those as well.", he indicated the boy who was leaning in a corner. The other counterparts laughed, except Spock, of course, who looked around in confusion.

"Our own Mister Scott is currently repairing the _Unicorn_. It should be finished in a day. "Oh, don't worry about it.", Uhura chimed in. Kirk blinked. Seeing his confusion, the other Kirk explained. "I just hired them, you see. Your crew works so well together, and I thought, since we're basically the same people, we can have this too." Captain Kirk raised an eyebrow. "Isn't your ship too small for all these people?", he asked. "When we sell the patent for the sonic shower Scotty invented, we'll be able to buy a bigger ship. The _Dandelion_ is a silly-named rust bucket anyways." The other Kirk's eyes brightened. "The next ship, we're calling _Enterprise_."

Kirk called his engineer back, which was answered with grumbles about not being allowed to finish his work. Soon after, they all stood in the transporter room. "After we have beamed you over, you need to gain some distance to avoid being pulled into our reality, since we will fire another torpedo.", Spock informed the group of counterparts. "Thank you for helping Peter and me.", Captain Kirk said to them. "The same goes for your Mister Spock.", the other Kirk replied. After that, there wasn't much to be said. The first group was promptly beamed over, only leaving the other Kirk and Scientist Spock behind. "You have given me opportunities that I did not dare dream of. I have to thank you for that.", the Vulcan said to Kirk. "Don't worry about it.", he replied. He nodded to Commander Spock at the transporter controls and the two disappeared as well. "That was really strange.", Peter said. "Indeed.", Spock agreed.

Just a few minutes later, they saw the _Dandelion_ warp away on the bridge screen. Almost immediately, Kirk gave the order to fire the modified torpedo and to go to Warp as well. There was a bright flash and Kirk was pushed into his seat. For a few seconds, the stars were gone. Then, they slowly reappeared. "Report.", Kirk ordered. "All systems normal.", Scotty replied. "We have returned to our own reality.", Spock added. Kirk breathed out. "Helm, set a course to Betelgeuse II.", he ordered Chekov. "Aye, Sir.", Chekov returned.

"You're bringing me back?", Peter asked. Kirk nodded. "I guess you had enough adventures for a while. Besides, shore leave isn't over. But first, I believe I owe you a tour of the ship." Peter's eyes brightened. "Yes, please.", he said. Kirk smiled. "Commander Spock, you have the con."


End file.
